Come learn with us in 2021: Buy your All-Access Pass for Education starting January 26
Happy 100th birthday RAHB! Did you know that on January 26, 2021 RAHB turns 100 years old?! In honour of this incredible milestone, RAHB is pleased to announce that a limited number of 2021 All-Access Passes for Education will be available.
The 2021 All-Access Pass for Education will cost $100 and is valid for any non-designation course offered between February 1 and December 31, 2021 that has a value of $45 or less. Consider the savings! You only need to take two or three courses to get your money’s worth for the year – and you can register for as many of the eligible courses as you want until December 31 of this year – all for only $100.
Sales for 2021 All-Access Pass for Education will begin on Tuesday, January 26 at 8 a.m. Remember, there’s only a limited number of these passes available, so mark your calendars! More details coming in the following weeks!
A new year is bringing change to RAHB’s MLS®. RAHB is excited to be the first real estate board in Canada to include BrokerBay in its suite of offerings included in your MLS® monthly fees. BrokerBay is already being used by more than 75 per cent of RAHB members at their own expense.
As a result of adding this unique and highly popular enhancement to RAHB’s suite of MLS® services, ShowingTime will be discontinued as a core MLS® offering as of February 5, 2021. Those members who wish to continue using ShowingTime as their front desk appointment booking system should contact Donna Ruffer Zamarro at 1-888-224-2275. (NB: if you subscribe directly to the ShowingTime platform, you will still be able to access it through Matrix.)
The MLS® monthly service fee will increase to $44 + HST as of February 1 (the current fee is $38 + HST). This monthly fee includes:
RAHB’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) through Matrix
BrokerBay
GeoWarehouse®
WEBForms®
Unlimited Broker Load
HPI
While a 15 per cent increase in monthly fees may seem high, we ask you to remember that members were given a credit for their November and December 2020 Monthly MLS® Service Fees – a savings of $76, which more than covers the increase for 2021. In addition, members who are currently using and paying for BrokerBay over and above the MLS® Monthly Service Fee will reduce their costs, as well as the time and administration to utilize the service.
More details will be available in the coming weeks about what you need to do if you are already using BrokerBay or want to sign up for this new service.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].
The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 913 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area were processed through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in December 2020. Sales were down 26 per cent over last month, but up 41.6 per cent over December of last year. New listings were down 47.9 per cent over November 2020 and up 34 per cent over last December. The average price for residential properties was $729,853, which was up 1 per cent from last month and up 25.4 per cent from December 2019. The number of active listings available at the end of the month was 52.5 per cent lower compared to the previous year.
If you have not already paid, this is a friendly reminder that the deadline of December 31, 2020 for the first quarter dues remittance is approaching.
The RAHB quarterly dues were billed and e-mailed to you as part of your November monthly invoice.
Due to COVID-19 we are encouraging members to pay Online through Matrix http://my.rahb.ca or Online through your bank (CIBC/PC Financial, Royal Bank, Scotia Bank, TD Canada Trust).
Cheques may also be dropped off at the RAHB office (back door mail slot).
RAHB also offers the option of setting up Pre-Authorized Payment via credit card or banking.
Note: The Virtual Association office will be closed for the holiday season from noon on December 24, reopening Monday January, 4, 2021 at 8:30 a.m.
A reminder about notifying RAHB of terminations in your office
Brokerages are responsible for notifying RAHB when members in their office resign or otherwise leave. Notice must be received by RAHB within seven business days of the member leaving. If notice is delayed beyond the seven business days, the Brokerage will be assessed a penalty of $50 per incident. (RAHB Bylaw, Article 4, Section 1.02.)
Effective Thursday, April 8, the Realty Shoppe will only offer curbside pick-up.
With the government enacting a stay-at-home order and to adhere to the health and safety guidelines outlined by the province, the Realty Shoppe will be closed to all in-person shopping. Pre-arranged, curbside pick-up will be available 10 a.m. to noon and 1 – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
To learn more about to how use our online realty shoppe, please click here.
Orders must be pre-paid, and payment must be on your credit card or your RAHB account. Payment by debit and/or cash is not available at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Pre-ordered supply orders will be available via curbside pick-up only, at the parking lot entry door for the RAHB offices. Entry into the RAHB building and in-person shopping is not be permitted at this time.
Curb-side pick-up: A pre-determined pick-up time will be coordinated by Realty Shoppe staff with each member. Upon arrival, the member must wait in their vehicle within the RAHB parking lot, and Shoppe staff will bring the order out of the building and place it on a designated table in order to adhere to social distancing measures.
No RAHB staff have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and RAHB staff working within the Realty Shoppe do not have COVID-19 symptoms.
As a result of a review of projected income and expenses for year-end 2020, the RAHB Board of Directors has waived the November and December Monthly MLS® Service Fee for members.
This credit will be reflected on your December invoice which will be sent in January.
The RAHB Board of Directors made the decision at their meeting on December 10th as part of an annual review, as required by policy, of the forecasted year-end surplus or deficit.
Mark your calendars! The Realty Shoppe will be closed on Wednesday, December 16, in order to conduct a full physical inventory count. No sales or orders can be made. We apologize for any inconvenience – your cooperation is greatly appreciated!
The Legacy version of CREA WEBForms® will be discontinued on December 17, 2020 and members will no longer have access to it. To learn how to migrate your transactions from the Legacy version of CREA WEBForms® please watch the below video.
On October 26, 2020, Federal Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, announced that the CEBA would be available to businesses that have been operating out of a non-business account through their financial institution.
The CEBA program provides interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to small businesses that have experienced a loss in revenue due to COVID-19. Repaying the balance of the loan on or before December 31, 2022, will result in loan forgiveness of 25 per cent (up to $10,000).
Eligible businesses include those who had a total payroll between $20,000 and $1.5 million in 2019, as well as sole proprietors receiving business income directly and family-owned corporations remunerating in the form of dividends. Businesses must also have an active Canada Revenue Agency business number with an effective date of registration on or prior to March 1, 2020.
If you are currently operating a small real estate business through a personal account with your financial institution and meet the above outlined eligibility requirements, you may now open a business account with your financial institution.
Once you have successfully opened a business account, you can apply for CEBA by contacting your financial institution. The deadline to apply is December 31st, 2020.
If you are wondering if the CEBA program is right for your business, the Government has created a pre-screening tool to provide business owners with an indication of their eligibility.
The Government has also created a CEBA Call Centre, which can be reached at 1-888-324-4201 between Monday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On December 1, the Government of Canada released their 2020 Fall Economic Statement which included some good news for Ontario home owners, buyers, sellers, and REALTORS®.
The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive
The government is expanding the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive to enhance eligibility in Toronto.
To help people in Toronto buy a house, the federal government is expanding the program to be available to eligible buyers to purchase a home up to 4.5 times their household income, an increase from the current limit of 4 times household income.
Additionally, the eligible buyer’s income threshold is being raised from $120,000 to $150,000 for Toronto. These changes will come into effect in the spring of 2021.
Home Energy Retrofits and Assessments
The government is proposing to provide $2.6 billion over 7 years, starting in 2020-21, to Natural Resources Canada to help homeowners improve their home energy efficiency by providing up to 700,000 grants of up to $5,000 to help homeowners make energy-efficient improvements to their homes.
Additional information on home energy efficiency grants will be provided in a future announcement, and eligibility for these grants will be retroactive to December 1, 2020.
The government also recognizes that homeowners and landlords need to be able to access simple and affordable financing to make deeper home energy retrofits. Over the coming months, the government will outline details of a low-cost loan program that integrates and builds on available energy audits and grants, and which can be easily accessed by Canadians.
Extending the Application Deadline for CEBA
The government is extending the application deadline for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to March 31, 2021.
CEBA provides an interest-free loan to small businesses of up to $40,000, with up to $10,000 being forgivable if the loan is paid back by December 31, 2022. The CEBA program will also soon be expanded, allowing eligible businesses to access an additional interest-free $20,000 loan where it is needed.
To read the full Fall Economic Statement, please click the button below:
The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,233 sales of residential properties located within the RAHB market area were processed through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in November 2020. Sales were down 24.12 per cent over last month, but up 17 per cent over November of last year. New listings were down 28.98 per cent over October 2020 and up 16.3 per cent over last November. The average price for residential properties was $722,317, which was up 0.11 per cent from last month and up 21.2 per cent from November 2019. The number of active listings available at the end of the month was 40.8 per cent lower compared to the previous year.
